Zimbabwe’s central bank has recently banned dometic financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrencies, local media outlet NewsDay reports today, May 12. According to the report, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ) director and registrar of banking institutions Norman Mataruka issued a circular Friday ordering all financial institutions to terminate servicing cryptocurrency exchanges within 60 days and begin to liquidate existing crypto-related accounts. Financial institutions have been ordered to “ensure that they do not use, trade, hold and/or transact in any way in virtual currencies,” a move which applies to both businesses and individuals. Explaining the decision, Mataruka highlighted the interconnectedness …

East Africa-based charity GiveDirectly has expanded into cryptocurrency with a $1 mln donation in crypto tokens from decentralized payment network OmiseGO, it announced Tuesday, March 27. The donation, which OmiseGO contributed together with Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin, will see GiveDirectly continue an experimental scheme aimed directly at refugees, providing 12,000 grants to families in Uganda. A pilot scheme has already seen 4,400 families receive $650, TechCrunch reported Tuesday, with the cryptocurrency experiment increasing the self-sufficiency of the process and reducing reliance on intermediaries. “This is a major new chapter for us, entering the humanitarian space with a service to give …

German car manufacturer BMW has allegedly closed a second partnership with a Blockchain startup, this time to source ethical cobalt for its products, Reuters reports March 5, citing the startup’s CEO. Just a week after the automotive giant unveiled a deal with Chinese Blockchain supply firm VEChain, Douglas Johnson-Poensgen, the CEO of little-known UK-based startup Circulor, told Reuters they are collaborating with BMW to track so-called ‘clean’ cobalt supplies in order to ensure their ethical provenance. Cobalt is sourced overwhelmingly from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, where some supplies are reported to involve the use of child labor and …

Whether Bitcoin would be a better option for the southern African state of Zimbabwe to adopt as an alternative method of payment or not has triggered an online discussion this past week. It follows the news that Zimbabwe will soon print its own version of the U.S. dollar as its economy suffers a severe US dollar shortage. On 4 May 2016, Governor John Mangudya of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced that the government will later – possibly this month - issue bonds with a total value backed by a US$200 million Africa Export Import Bank (AFREXIM) facility. Africa …

Inconsistent policies surrounding fiat currencies in Nigeria has caused panic, and given rise to an unclear future for investors as the Central Bank of Nigeria struggles to stabilize the Naira. Could this be a perfect opportunity for Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrency startups to break into the largest market in Africa? Another new policy In a press conference by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele on Monday January 11 2016, he announced that the nation’s apex bank will be stopping the sale of forex to Bureaux De Change operators within the country. Mr. Emefiele also announced that …

Bitcoin payments startup Yellow has launched a bitcoin voucher service in Egypt, as an alternative solution for “costly and inconvenient” payment platforms in the Middle East. Bitcoin voucher service Yellow’s voucher service allows its customers to purchase vouchers as “tickets” on eventtus.com with credit cards (Visa, MasterCard), PayFort (an online payment gateway in the Middle East) and Vodafone point-of-sale machines. As the Egypt’s credit card penetration rate is below 2% and only 10% of the country’s population holds bank accounts, bitcoin vouchers may not be enough to increase the liquidity of bitcoin in the nation. However, it is the first …

If bitcoin acceptance reaches a critical mass where necessities of food, shelter, and clothing can be bought with it, it will likely have reached a tipping point where it displaces national currencies. In this scenario, many areas of the world would be leapfrogging banking infrastructure and traditional money wire transfers. Most notably this would describe the financial landscape in developing economies such as the nations of Africa. Bitcoin Leapfrogging Banks Leapfrogging is described as a theory of economic development, which skips inferior or obsolete technologies in order to move directly to advanced ones. Take, for example, phone coverage in African …

“My view is that bitcoin should be used as a currency tool, rather than a currency itself.” - Gareth Grobler, ICE³X Founder Cointelegraph SA recently attended the African Cards & Payments Conference in Sandton, Johannesburg, where local bitcoin payment processing company PayFast stood out as a technology company with a vision. We managed to catch up with Bitcoin expert and local entrepreneur, Gareth Grobler, founder of South African bitcoin exchange ICE³ X. Gareth delivered a presentation around Bitcoin technology and chaired a VIP round-table discussion attended by industry professionals from across the continent. The discussions focused on dispelling the myths …

The first Bitcoin conference to take place in Africa will be held in Cape Town this year, on April 16 and 17. Tipped to be a landmark event in Africa’s Bitcoin story, Bitcoin Africa Conference has received sponsorship from BitX and Bankymoon among others and will “will bring together merchants, investors, venture capitalists, start-ups and Bitcoin enthusiasts who are all looking to move Bitcoin forward in Africa.” An official gathering for the extremely active Bitcoin community across the African continent has been a long time in the making. Projects such as P2P SMS payments in Kenya and remittance studies in …

Beam is a brand new bitcoin company looking to shake up the African remittance industry. They are utilizing Bitcoin’s payment system and borderless nature to give Ghanaians cheaper and quicker remittances. When bitcoins are sent to Beam, Beam will immediately turn the bitcoins into Ghana’s fiat currency, the Ghana cedi, and deliver the money to the recipient through one of Ghana’s various mobile money services. According to their website, recipients get an extra GHS 55.55 and save £8.90 in transfer fees by using their service compared to MoneyGram or Western Union. Beam is made up of two core members - …

Two bikers – Borja and Elvis were selected for this 16-country, 8,000-mile trek. Along the way they will have to complete a bitcoin-based exchange on each stop in every big city of Africa. The motorcyclists are going to make their bitcoin expedition to the end of the continent at Cape Town and include stops in Nigeria, Angola, Burkina Faso and Namibia. The main idea of #BitcoinAfrica tour is to find willing exchanger (Bitcoins -> Cash) from each country or city of Africa. Every experience and opinion during the trip will be described in a blog. According to Bitcoin Bolt reportes …